Now that it's all said and done, we can look back on the trade deadline with some distance - it being 3:08 Eastern Standard Time right now. Over the last few days the Coyotes made some excellent deals. They kickstarted their rebuild by moving Vermette, Yandle and Michalek for two 1st roudners, a second rounder and prospects John Moore, Klas Dahlbeck, Anthony Duclair and Maxim Letunov.
In my opinion that is an excellent haul. 3 upper round draft picks, two potentially decent defenseman, and a couple of high potential scoring wingers.
Duclair is the main prize, but the team will also pick four times in the first round over the next two drafts and all it cost them was players who were leaving anyways.
Don Maloney has done excellent work this week.
The Coyotes also trade for 30 year old back-up goalie for a late pick. He has never played an NHL game.
They also picked up Tye McGinn of waivers from the Sharks. He has one goal in 33 games this year and is 24. He appears to have an excellent mullet, based on his Hockey DB photo.
Finally, the Coyotes also claimed Craig Cunningham off waivers from the Bruins. Also 24, and also a former 4th round pick, he has a whopping two goals in 32 games. So he's twice the player that McGinn is! Richie's brother (and McGinn) were picked up, I assume, to fill out the roster after it has been decimated over the last couple of days.
Overall, this has been a great deadline from a Coyotes point of view. The team did fail to recoup an asset for pending UFA Martin Erat, and I am surprised a team wouldn't want his defense, even if he can no longer score.
I also would have liked to see them get rid of Korpikoski and Vitale, but I guess you can't have everything you want.
Here's another great song to celebrate.
TRADE: Even thought he is currently out with an injury, Zbynek Michalek has been traded to the Blues along with a conditional 3rd rounder for Maxim Letunov. The Coyotes will pay half of the rest of Michalek's salary.
Letunov is the Blues second round pick from last year, #58 and he is a 6'2 Russian winger.
I don't really think an always injured 32 year old pending UFA is that good anyways, so Letunov looks like a good pick up.
To avoid dressing a bunch of rookies, the Coyotes have picked up a couple guys from waiver per Craig Morgan.
The #Coyotes have claimed F Tye McGuinn (San Jose) and F Craig Cunningham (Boston) off waivers.
— Craig Morgan (@cmorganfoxaz) March 2, 2015It's (obviously) Trade Deadline Day, and I'll be here all day writing about anything involving the Coyotes and anything else it pops into my mind to talk about.
The Coyotes kicked the trade deadline off in massive fashion, sending Vermette to the Hawks for a 1st and Klas Dahlbeck.
Analysis: Killer trade. Great return. No complaints here.
The Coyotes then traded Keith Yandle a 4th rounder and Chris Summers in exchange for a 1st, a 2nd, John Moore and Anthony Duclair.
Analysis: The Rangers add a great player and get better now, but the Coyotes hit a grand-slam.
First, the retained salary doesn't matter. The Coyotes are not a cap team and won't be next year, so it's irrelevant that they pay half of Yandle's salary.
Second, the Coyotes put Chris Summers on waivers two or three times already, so his loss is negligible. As for the 4th rounder, they recouped a 2nd, so that's a win.
Duclair is the key to this trade. Some refuse to credit the Coyotes here because they are stuck on the fact Duclair was a 2013 3rd round pick. This is irrelevant. His attitude and character were questioned and he was injured during his draft year. This combined to make him fall.
However, he followed that up by returning to junior and scoring 50 goals. Then he made the Rangers out of camp this year and starred in the World Juniors on a line with Max Domi.
His skill set is unreal and people writing him off because of his draft position might consider that Yandle himself was a 4th rounder.
You have to think making the NHL as a junior eligible player is more impressive and says more about a player than where he was drafted. In my opinion, based on everything I have been able to read (a lot) over the last 24 hours, the Coyotes met their quota of one potentially elite-level prospect in exchange for Yandle.
They also picked up Moore and while many are lamenting that he's "no more than a 5th or a 6th defenseman," people ought to remember that every single team needs 5th and 6th defensemen.
Furthermore, Moore was playing a regular shift on one of the NHL's best teams and he appears to drive possession quite well. He's a big guy, skates good and moves the puck. He is a fantastic addition to a group of core defenseman 23 or under that includes OEL, Murphy, Stone and Gormley.
All in all, the Coyotes received a massive bounty for Yandle.
We'll see what happens as the day moves on, but in the meantime, here's a great tune to help you on your way.
Neutral Milk Hotel